


Castle on a Cloud

by naasad



Series: I'll Be Good [7]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Flashpoint (Comics)
Genre: Afterlife, Angst, Family, Found Families, Gen, Ghosts, Hurt/Comfort, The Happy Ending You All Deserve, Vengeful Spirits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-06-10 13:00:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15292068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naasad/pseuds/naasad
Summary: Tim wonders who Bruce is.





	Castle on a Cloud

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if it's wonky, I ended up smashing together like four different ideas I had for this series into one story. Hope you enjoy!

Dick watched carefully as the strangers buried his friend. He flinched as something stirred in the forest. Whatever it was, it was horrible. His shadow, his faithful other self, turned toward it and drew a knife.

"No," Dick said, grabbing his arm. "It's okay."

Talon's shade shook his head, not believing.

Dick sighed and turned back to see Tim all alone, save for the cat.

"Who were they?"

Tim looked up and grinned, pointed to Dick, and then jogged his thumb to the side, fingers curled into his palm.

Dick raised an eyebrow. "Really? Another me? How many are there?"

Tim shrugged.

Dick sighed and reached out a hand.

Once Tim took it, they ended up back in that no-place between paradise and earth. "They said they were from an alternate universe," Tim cheered. "They said we're brothers!"

Dick grinned and ruffled his hair. "See!"

Tim ducked, flinched.

Dick frowned and held up his hands where Tim could see them. "All good?"

Tim nodded, shivering. "Yeah, it's okay." He smiled. "I know you won't hurt me." He lapsed into thought. "Who's Bruce?"

"Bruce?" Dick asked. "I don't know anyone by that name. Why?"

Tim shrugged. "The big one, he mentioned him. Said he was buried in Wayne Cemetery and my age. I think he's important to me in their world." He looked up, eyes shining with hope. "Maybe... maybe the two of you together will be enough to build me a paradise."

Dick's face fell.

"I know," Tim said. "I know. It probably won't work."

"I'll find him," Dick promised. "It can't hurt to try. And, hey, you're outside now! What's the first thing you're going to do?"

Tim grinned and ducked his head. "Stubby and I are going to go stargazing. There's this hill I used to go to, by the neighbor's house."

"Make sure you take the totem with you," Dick said, shivering as he felt the presence of the forest creep closer. "Mother's Love is a powerful thing, and you'll need it here. I don't understand why you wouldn't want to be buried somewhere safer."

Tim chuckled and pulled his cat close. "I'm perfectly fine." His smile fell and he went silent for a moment, thinking deep. "How powerful is Mother's Love?" he asked.

Dick's heart shattered. "Powerful," he said. "It can defeat any monster."

"Is it more powerful than True Love?" Tim asked.

Dick punched him in the shoulder. "Hey, who's to say Mother's Love isn't True?" He frowned as he heard voices behind him. "You have to go back now."

Tim nodded and reached out his hand.

He found himself back in the forest and shivered as whatever it was seemed to press closer. He scooped the obsidian off his grave – he had a grave! – and Stubby into his arms then bolted to the tree line.

The presence, whatever it was, did not follow.

He smiled in relief and walked more sedately toward his hill, counting stars and constellations, running commentary in his head.

He clutched the totem in his hand and decided not to return to his body that night.

The next night, he most definitely paid for that decision.

“Holy decomposition!” Dick crowed when he found him. He picked him up off the ground and ran into the forest, resolutely ignoring the fear that took ahold of him.

Something followed.

He laid Tim on his grave and waited.

Soon, Tim was sitting back up and smiling at him.

“Don’t do that!” Dick yelled.

Tim cowered backward.

“I thought I lost you! I thought you were faded and it was too late! You have to come back to your body every night! You can’t just go wandering-ʺ Dick choked on his words as the air grew thick and angry.

Stubby hissed, hackled up, and Talon crouched, ready for battle.

Tim reached up and clasped his hand, the totem held tightly between them, and everything turned still.

Dick looked down at the other boy, noticing how he curled in on himself. “I’m sorry for yelling. I was worried.”

Tim nodded, then made an impatient gesture with his other hand.

Dick nodded. “Bruce is the Batman’s son. Tim, I don’t think it’s wise to go and find him. Whatever you become now depends on how other people remember you, and I don’t think Batman remembers his son in any good way.”

Tim worried his lip between his teeth, then nodded. He brought one fist up to his chest and turned it out.

Dick sighed. “Okay. Okay, we’ll try. But I’ve visited every cemetery and every paradise. There just isn’t any sign of him. Not in any usual place. Who knows? Maybe Batman’s quest for revenge just… killed him. His memory of him.”

Tim perked up immediately and tugged on Dick’s wrist as he started walking away.

Dick frowned but followed.

They traversed Gotham for the better part of the day before they began to tire.

“We need to get back to our bodies,” Dick said.

Tim shook his head and ducked into a nearby church. He smiled and waved at a young priest with a stripe of white in his hair.

The priest looked shocked and waved back. He glanced around as if he were afraid to be caught and then knelt in front of them. “I’ve been able to see spirits since I got back from the dead, but you two are the youngest I’ve ever seen. What are your names?”

Dick drew himself to his full height, a measly four feet. “I’m Dick Grayson of the Flying Graysons. And this is my little brother, Timmy.”

The priest nodded and pointed to his chest. “Jason Todd. What brings you here?”

Tim held out the obsidian and nodded to Dick.

“We’re looking for Bruce Wayne.”

Tim shook his head and pointed to the obsidian.

Dick frowned. “We’re… looking for Martha Wayne?”

Tim nodded.

Jason shook his head. “I know you’re spirits and all, but the Joker is not to be trifled with. She’s some kind of crazy.”

Tim pointed to the totem once more.

Dick sighed. “Well, thanks for letting us use your church. Feels like I’ve been standing next to my body for a year. We’ll get out of your hair.”

Jason sighed and stood. “I’ll show you where she is.” He smiled and ruffled Tim’s hair. “Though I can’t imagine what you’d want her for.”

True to his word, Jason took them straight to the Joker’s lair and left them just outside with a flask of holy water.

Tim smiled gratefully and gestured between it and a nearby body for several minutes before Dick understood.

They trailed after the Joker for days, cringing at the horrors she committed, just waiting for something, Dick couldn’t tell what, and he couldn’t bring them into the no-place without transporting them right back to Tim’s body, so he simply had to sit and watch.

Finally, Tim seemed to perk up as Joker went off by herself. It was the first time she went into any sort of personal room.

She trailed her fingers over a picture of Bruce and laid on her side, weeping.

Tim held out the obsidian from just beside her, willing himself and it invisible as her tears splashed against the stone.

Finally, he nodded to Dick and the acrobat transported them back to his body.

The presence in the forest was stronger than ever, but Tim just grinned and walked right into the heart of it.

“No!” Dick yelled as his little brother was flung across the clearing.

Stubby yowled.

He skidded across to Tim’s unnaturally still form and scooped up the obsidian, holding it in front of him like a ward as the presence advanced. “You can’t have him,” he sobbed.

The shadows froze, then reached out once more, taking hold of the totem.

Dick gaped as they melted away and a young boy blinked in shock.

“She,” Tim gargled, pushing himself up and crying with the pain of speaking, “still loves him.”

Dick gaped. “Mother’s Love?”

Tim nodded, wiping the blood off his chin.

“Who are you?” Bruce Wayne asked.

Days later, Dick visited again, finding Bruce and Tim sitting underneath the tree. Stubby purred in the lap of the former vengeful spirit.

Dick shook his head in wonder, then sighed and went to deliver the bad news. “Sorry,” he said, “neither of you have a paradise.”

Bruce and Tim shared a look and sighed, then Bruce shrugged. “It’s okay. I’m better, and we can watch out for each other.”

Tim grinned and nodded and reached for Dick.

“A family?” Dick asked.

Bruce nodded, more solemn than any eight-year-old had the right to be. “A family.”

“Hello?”

Tim jumped up and ran to greet Father Todd.

Jason laughed and then glanced at Bruce. “So, you did it.”

“How did you find us?” Dick demanded.

Jason gestured to Tim. “I recognized him from somewhere.” He sighed. “You’re just kids. I know what it’s like to be alone like that. The more people you have watching your back, the better.”

Tim grinned and nodded enthusiastically.

Bruce and Dick shared a look and smiled.

“Welcome to the family,” Bruce said.


End file.
